Utrecht collected a hard earned three points against Roda with a 1-0 win at the Parkstad Limburg Stadion on Friday night.

The hosts got off to the brighter start as they had three chances to take the lead inside the first 10 minutes, with Krisztian Nemeth denied twice and only a strong tackle on the edge of the area preventing Mitchell Donald from getting his shot away.

Utrecht’s first real opportunity came after 24 minutes when Nana Asare picked up the ball in the middle of Roda’s half and unleashed a shot from distance, but his effort sailed over the bar.

Five minutes later, Cedric van der Gun picked the ball up outside the box and ran towards goal before passing to Leon de Kogel, but the striker could only find the side netting.

The visitors were very lucky to take the lead after 34 minutes, capitalising on a blunder from Filip Kurto. Tommy Oar sent a free-kick into the Roda box which should have been easy for the 21-year-old goalkeeper, but instead his punch sent it flying straight up into the air and Dave Bulthuis beat him to it to open the scoring.

Danilo came close to equalising in the second-half but his shot rolled across the face of goal and Adil Ramzi had Roda’s best chance of the match late on when he sent a shot curling towards goal, but Robbin Ruiter tipped it over the bar to seal the three points for Utrecht.

ZWOLLE

1

2

GRONINGEN

Groningen were lucky to take three points from Zwolle in a fairly even fixture between the pair on Saturday evening.

Art Langeler’s side took the lead after 20 minutes when Youness Mokhtar unleashed a long-range effort on goal. Luciano da Silva should have been able to catch it with ease, but the Groningen goalkeeper flapped at it and the ball ended up in the back of the net.

Shortly after, Da Silva prevented Groningen from going 2-0 down when he kept out Giovanni Gravenbeek’s effort with his foot.

Both sides had several opportunities to net the next goal, but it took until the dying minutes for Groningen to equalise. Genero Zeefuik levelled the score when he pounced on the rebound of a Virgil van Dijk shot.

Groningen looked to have sealed the victory soon after when David Texeira found the back of the net, but referee Pieter Vink ruled that the whole ball had not crossed the line.

The visitors did take the lead on 88 minutes, however, as Leon ter Wielen came off his line to catch a Maikel Kieftenbeld diagonal cross but was beaten to it by Michael de Leeuw, who headed into the empty goal.

VITESSE

1

1

HERACLES

A Wilfried Bony goal rescued a point for Vitesse as they drew 1-1 with Heracles to stay second in the Eredivisie.

Vitesse got off to a poor start as Heracles created several chances, but they failed to capitalise on some poor defending from the home side.

Samuel Armenteros came closest to breaking the deadlock but he failed to beat Piet Velthuizen.

Heracles looked just as bright in the opening minutes of the second-half and found the opener on 48 minutes when Ninos Gouriye slotted home from close range.

Bony should have equalised for Vitesse a minute later, but his header went straight into Remko Pasveer’s hands.

The equaliser then arrived with 15 minutes left on the clock via a penalty kick, which the referee awarded after Mieke te Wierik’s poor tackle on Marco van Ginkel and Bony comfortably placed it into the net.

RKC

1

1

VVV

RKC and VVV shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw on Saturday night.

Marcel Seip put VVV in the lead just six minutes into the match when Jeffrey Leiwakabessy played a long ball in behind the RKC defence and found the Venlo centre-back who lifted home.

The hosts came close through Henrico Drost when he diverted Rodney Sneijder’s corner towards goal, but his flick bounced off of the top of the bar.

Braber was later denied a penalty claim when Niki Maenpaa appeared to have brought him down, but the referee was not convinced and instead booked the RKC midfielder for diving.

The home side found the equaliser on 56 minutes when Jeff Stans played a fantastic through ball into the path of Chavalier, who knocked it past the keeper and into the net.

VVV then increased the pressure as they looked to restore their lead and had a great opportunity in the closing stages when Ricky van Haaren fired goalwards, but Jeroen Zoet kept him out.

RKC almost stole the three points in injury-time when Ard van Peppen’s thunderous strike was kept out by Maenpaa and Duits failed to beat the keeper from a free-kick.

NEC

0

0

WILLEM II

NEC and Willem II played out the only scoreless draw of the week in the Dutch top flight.

Both teams created enough chances to break the deadlock but neither seized the initiative and took the lead.

The Nijmegen side had the majority of possession and created more chances and even looked to have taken the lead after 12 minutes through Melvin Platje as he slid the ball into the net.

The striker’s celebrations were cut short, however, with the referee judging Soren Rieks to have fouled Willem II goalkeeper David Meul.

The visitors had to call on Meul to save them twice as he kept out Ryan Koolwijk’s curling free-kick and a shot from Geert Arend Roorda.

Virgil Misidjan was disappointed not to score when he caught Evander Sno in possession and went through on goal, but the 19-year-old missed the target.

NEC had given up hope after a Kevin Conboy red card for his tackle on Misidjan, but Willem II could not capitalise on the numerical advantage.

ADO DEN HAAG

1

1

AJAX

Frank de Boer’s Ajax maintained their unbeaten run as they fought back from a goal down to draw with ADO on Sunday.

Den Haag had two early opportunities to open the scoring, first when Van Duiden headed wide, before Toornstra's effort was tipped onto the post by the Ajax goalkeeper.

Ajax’s first opportunity came 12 minutes into the match when Christian Eriksen found Jody Lukoki on the right flank with a superb pass, but the young winger missed the target.

Tom Beugelsdijk gave ADO the lead less than a quarter of an hour into the game when he shook off Niklas Moisander to meet Danny Holla’s cross and head past Vermeer.

Ajax pressed in search of an equaliser and came close in the second period through Babel when he fired at goal from outside the box, but Zwinkels stopped it from rolling into the bottom corner.

It was Babel who eventually did grab the equalising goal after the hour mark when he tapped home from close range from Ricardo van Rhijn's cross.

NAC

2

1

AZ

NAC Breda celebrated their centenary week in style by collecting all three points against AZ, despite going 1-0 down in the first-half.

The home side attacked straight from the first whistle and Kees Luijckx almost put his side ahead in the early stages with a header from Jordy Buijs’s free-kick.

AZ resorted to the counterattack and took the lead after 35 minutes when Jozy Altidore’s shot was saved by Jelle ten Rouwelaar and fell to Roy Beerens, who slipped the ball to Adam Maher to fire home.

Nemanja Gudelj had an opportunity to bring the hosts level in the opening minutes of the second period, but Esteban saved his headed effort.

It was Kees Luijckx who made it 1-1 when he knocked it in from a corner, before Sepp de Roover’s 73rd minute goal put NAC into the lead.

Viktor Elm and Beerens had opportunities to rescue a point for the visitors but Ten Rouwelaar was on hand to keep them out.

TWENTE

1

0

HEERENVEEN

Twente extended their lead at the top of the league to four points with a 1-0 victory over Heerenveen.

Steve McClaren’s side had the better of the chances early on and Willem Janssen had a great opportunity to open the scoring when he ran onto Felipe Gutierrez’s through ball, but Kristoffer Nordfeldt was quick off his line.

Roberto Rosales nearly found Luc Castaignos with a dangerous diagonal cross into the box, but the striker could not meet his delivery at the back post.

Heerenveen’s best chance came after 28 minutes when Alfred Finnbogason’s free-kick came back off the wall and fell to Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, who blasted a deflected effort just wide of the post.

Douglas failed to capitalise on some poor Heerenveen marking as his free header from a corner went over the bar.

Twente were given a penalty just before the hour mark when Ramon Zomer dived in and chopped down Gutierrez and Dusan Tadic stepped up to convert.

It should have been 2-0 later on when Tadic sent a dangerous cross into Castaignos, who diverted it towards goal, but Nordfeldt managed to keep it out.

PSV

3

0

FEYENOORD

Dick Advocaat’s PSV recovered from their Europa League defeat on Thursday to secure three points against Feyenoord.

Ola Toivonen had the clearest chance of the first-half when he unleashed a shot from 30 yards, but could only watch as it came back off the woodwork.

PSV continued to batter shots at the PSV goal but were kept out until the final 30 minutes, in which time all three goals were scored.

Toivonen opened the scoring after 63 minutes with a fantastic 25-yard shot which sailed into the top corner, leaving Feyenoord goalkeeper Kostas Lamprou with no chance.

PSV doubled their lead when Georginio Wijnaldum rose to meet Dries Mertens’ free-kick and sent it looping over Lamprou.

Three became four just minutes later, when Jeremain Lens charged down the right wing and attempted to cross to Mertens, but Lamprou palmed it away and it fell to Narsingh who tapped home.